The tidal power unit, installed near the Orkney Islands as part of the European Marine Energy Centre's (EMEC) offshore test site, was first announced in January 2009.

Since then, the unit has been recognized by the International Tidal Energy Summit at the 2011 Tidal Today Awards, and Rolls-Royce says it plans to apply the lessons learned thus far to the construction of a 1-MW tidal turbine demonstration unit that will be deployed mid-2012 at EMEC.

"This demonstrates the tremendous potential of tidal as a cleaner, greener source of energy," TGL chief executive officer Robert Stevenson says. "Government support and incentives will be required to create the necessary investment climate to bring the technology to commercial scale."